MEDIA CLIPS – Nov. 19, 2018 Inbox: Will Rox pursue star starting pitcher? Beat reporter Thomas Harding answers questions Thomas Harding | MLB.com | Nov. 19, 2018 How much do you think the emergence of German Marquez and Kyle Freeland (and to a lesser degree the rest of the pitching staff) will have an effect on the upcoming offseason? It doesn't seem like the Rockies need to go after a big name starting pitcher. - @Eric_C_Swanson Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb · Nov 14, 2018 #Rockies fans, I will be putting together an @EdwardJones Inbox to run early next week. Please tweet me your questions here. Eric Swanson @Eric_C_Swanson How much do you think the emergence of Marquez and Freeland (and to a lesser degree the rest of the pitching staff) will have an effect on the upcoming offseason? e.g. it doesn’t seem like the Rockies need to go after a big name SP. The two years of this incarnation of Rockies' rotation -- based on young pitchers -- has been more successful than forays into free agency -- no matter how accomplished the names -- have ever been. Jon Gray is just a year removed from a 1 solid season, and he appears to have a workable plan after a difficult 2018, and Chad Bettis was regaining his pre- testicular cancer form before chronic finger blisters sidelined him and eventually forced him to the bullpen. Tyler Anderson could be next to reach prominence. He proved his durability by making 32 starts in 2018 -- the first time he had started more than 23 games in any professional season. Antonio Senzatela had a couple of injury bouts in '18, but he made a step forward by being productive at the end. What do you think of DJ LeMahieu's future playing elsewhere should that happen? Is Ryan McMahon the Opening Day second baseman in 2019? - @natejundt Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb · Nov 17, 2018 Please tweet me questions for my next @EdwardJones #Rockies Beat Reporter's Inbox Nate @natejundt What do you think of DJ’s future playing elsewhere should that happen? Is McMahon opening day 2b in 2019? If LeMahieu signs elsewhere, and there is no indication of the Rockies making a bid to retain him, or if he comes back, my assessment is the same. He's a standout defender, he can hit for average and hit a career-high 15 homers last season, so he'll be a winning player wherever he goes. If the Rockies are replacing LeMahieu, I'm far less concerned about Opening Day than the long-term plan. Second base is one of several routes to playing time for McMahon, a left-handed hitter, and right-handed-hitting Garrett Hampson. We keep hearing about Garrett Hampson playing the outfield. Does he have experience or is this just an idea? - @SamCampfield 2 Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb · Nov 14, 2018 #Rockies fans, I will be putting together an @EdwardJones Inbox to run early next week. Please tweet me your questions here. Sam Campfield @SamCampfield We keep hearing about Garrett Hampson playing the outfield. Does he have experience or is this just an idea? Hampson has played center for nine Minor League games and for three innings for the Rockies last season. Rather than make a judgment on the small sample size, I'll pass along senior player development director Zach Wilson's assessment. "We did a number of things with Hampson because of his unique tool set," Wilson said. "He can run and he has great instincts for the game. A year ago he was in instructional ball and we gave him some opportunities in center field. "Last year when the opportunity arose, we put him in center field and he was very natural, very fluid out there -- without a lot of experience or practice time." Should the Rockies go after a big-name free-agent outfielder like Michael Brantley (Indians) or A.J. Pollock (D-backs)? Also what are the chances they land Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto? - @ZSchwaGaming Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb · Nov 17, 2018 Please tweet me questions for my next @EdwardJones #Rockies Beat Reporter's Inbox ZSchwaGaming @ZSchwaGaming 3 Should the Rockies go after a big name outfielder like Brantley or Pollock? Also what are the chances they land Realmuto? Early indications had the Rockies exploring value in the relief and catching markets. The Rox, and just about everyone else, have been linked to former Astros multi-position player Marwin Gonzalez. But there are many ways to improve the offense. Brantley's consistent contact and low strikeout rate would make him a fit, as would Pollock's consistent production when healthy. There are many ways to improve the offense. As I reported earlier in the offseason, based on a Major League source, it doesn't appear Rockies will offer the bounty the Marlins would want for Realmuto. Will the new hitting coach be a former player of the Rockies? - @Dlmtheman Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb · Nov 17, 2018 Please tweet me questions for my next @EdwardJones #Rockies Beat Reporter's Inbox Daniel miller @Dlmtheman will the new hitting coach be a former player of the rockies? The departures of first-base coach Tony Diaz, who became the Twins' third-base coach, and hitting coach Duane Espy, who parted ways with the club, leave two openings. But the hitting coach opening, after the team won 91 games despite a franchise-low .256 team batting average, has drawn much speculation. But I'm wondering more about the structure of the job. 4 The success of the pitching staff is at least partly due to the creation of a director of pitching operations job, when then- general manager Dan O'Dowd hired Mark Wiley after the 2012 season. Wiley's work with pitchers and coaches in the Minors and Majors has helped focus the teaching and strategy. Can the hitting program at the Major League level be restructured? When Bud Black took over as manager, the Rockies expanded from one hitting coach to two, with Espy and former Rockies outfielder Jeff Salazar filling the roles. Much of baseball had already done that, since dealing with the needs of individual hitters is more than a one-person job. But with the long-acknowledged difficulty of balancing the difference between hitting at Coors Field and on the road, would the Rockies be best served with a game-plan supervisor in addition to one or two hands-on hitting coaches? Will baseball ever do a salary cap? Why should fans attend games if three players on a rich team make more than your team's entire roster? - @Maureen_Burnett Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb · Nov 14, 2018 #Rockies fans, I will be putting together an @EdwardJones Inbox to run early next week. Please tweet me your questions here. Maureen Burnett @Maureen_Burnett Will baseball ever do a salary cap? Why should fans attend games if three players on a rich team make more than your team’s entire roster? I can't see a salary cap happening, but to answer the second question, I don't think it's necessarily a big deal. Two of the last four World Series champions were the Royals and the Astros, who proved you can win with a rebuilding franchise as long as you make the right moves when the opportunity comes. 5 You still have more balance in baseball than the NFL, where the few championship-type quarterbacks rarely change teams, or the NBA, which has its championship determined by less than a handful of players. 6 Rox looking to fill vacancies on Black's staff Matt Kelly | MLB.com | Nov. 17th, 2018 Rockies manager Bud Black has a pair of holes to fill on his coaching staff, after the club announced the departures of first-base coach Tony Diaz and hitting coach Duane Espy on Wednesday. After nearly two decades in the Rockies' organization, including the last two at the Major League level, Diaz moved to the Twins to serve as third-base coach for rookie manager Rocco Baldelli. Espy, who spent 15 total years in the organization, wrapped up his second tenure as Colorado's hitting coach (he previously served in that role from 2003-06). He oversaw an uncharacteristically tough season for the Rockies' offense -- which hit .256 as a unit, the lowest mark in franchise history (including just a .225 average on the road). "We thank both Duane and Tony for their many years as coaches and leaders within our organization," Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich said in a statement shared via the club's Twitter account on Friday. "We wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors." 7 Next year's top free agents -- 1 for each team Sale, Arenado among marquee players who could hit the market Will Leitch | MLB.com | Nov. 18th, 2018 Free-agent season is just getting started, and one of the challenges of assessing free agents sometimes can be separating what they did in the last year of their most recent contract and what they can expect to do in the future. There's not a ton of evidence that players are healthier or better in their contract year than they are the rest of their career, but teams can't help but bid sometimes on what they saw most recently. So, today, we look at the most prominent pending free agent for next year, the guys who will be playing for their next contract in 2019. These are the names we'll be talking about a year from now come Hot Stove time … though the sort of offers they'll get will depend on what happens next season.